I just absolutely adore clams, especially in hot Summer days such as now. When cooked correctly, clams have the juiciest and freshest flavor, easy in the mouth and the stomach. It is also very versatile and can be eaten as it is, or as toppings for pasta or rice, or with chips on the side.

The other day at Tokyo’s largest ethnic wet market I scored 1 kg of live big clams (大アサリ) at a very handsome price of 500 yen. That is such a bargain for such plump bounty. In a regular supermarket, I would easily pay double or triple the price, so the decision was quickly made to get it, even if I have to lug it back home (along with my other finds) in 35C hot Summer days. Several recipe ideas went through my head as I’m lugging the heavy bounty home, should I make black pepper butter sauce? Should I infuse them with lemon grass and coconut milk? Should I make sweet sour sauce?

In the end I decided to stick with the tried and tested go to simple recipe (and also because I have a very large bunch of parsley that needs to be used). I used my LC tagine for this recipe, but it should be doable in a regular pot, but may take a few minutes more. Just be careful not to overcook it otherwise your juicy plump clams will turn into rubber!

Vongole tagine

Ingredients:

1 kg large clams (大アサリ)

200 cl dry white wine (can replace with water)

For the parsley butter:

80 grams unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

4 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped

2 Tbsp onion, finely diced

2 garlic, finely diced

salt and pepper to taste

small pinch of sugar

Directions:

Place clams in the cold tagine

Add the wine to the clams

Cook with the tagine lid on for 8-9minutes

Scatter the parsley butter ingredients into the tagine, keep on heating for another minute with the lid back on.